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Based, so it claims, on a book by Dennis Wheatley, the
game revolves around the death of Mr Blane on a boat
called the Golden Gull. Mr Blane is a big man in the
world of soap (the stuff you wash with, not the stuff
you watch on telly) and so is his co-sailor. Could be
they had a bit of a lather . . . or was ol' Blane washed
overboard?
Up
to you, Detective Kettering, to find out the truth.
Programmed by Fergus McNeill of Delta 4 fame and Jason
Somerville, this game has the familiar Delta 4 hallmarks
of (1) three parts (2) TALK TO feature (3) sense of
humour and (4) attention to detail.
The
last two features are best illustrated by a little sequence
you might encounter at the beginning of the game. Sitting
in your desk, you receive a memo from your boss telling
you about Blane's death. You can, in the meantime, examine
the ash tray and see an 'unfiltered Camel', which you
can quietly enjoy for a minute or two. If however you
spend too much time browsing around your office, in
marches your boss who fires you for not leaping to your
feet and rushing off to solve the crime as soon as you
received the memo.
[this screenshot was not in the original
review]
And
if Adventuresoft are still wondering what I meant about
'scope' in a game -- the above is the perfect example.
I
found Dracula to be slightly dull in that it
frequently nursemaided the player along predetermined
plot lines. Miami does the same from time to
time but it's far less obtrusive and there's always
lots to do. Once you reach the Golden Gull, you'll find
plenty of guests to interrogate and a mine of clues
and information that you must piece together to find
out the truth. And although many characters will reply
to your questions with the non-committal 'Ask me tomorrow',
their presence adds much interest to the game.
This
game was a pleasant surprise -- I hadn't even had a
press release from CRL about it, and as it turns out
I think it's one of their better games. As a Quillustrated
program, it also has some really quite attractive pictures
as well and just goes to show (as Fergus McNeill has
shown several times already) how much good you can do
with that worthy utility.
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